Apple has recently made a big bet on Siri, beefing up its intelligence and the number of outside apps it can access in the recent iOS 10 update for iPhone and iPad. Siri also recently made its debut on Mac with the new MacOS Sierra operating system.

But the real impetus may be Google's heavy emphasis on its own Google Assistant for its home-built Pixel phones and other products, like Google Home. Google has had a virtual assistant in Android phones for several years now, but the company is talking up its Google Assistant as a massive leap forward.

Samsung, Apple's top competitor and the number-one manufacturer of premium Android phones, is now making moves to compete with Apple and avoid getting outflanked by Google.

Viv Labs has long promised that Viv outpaces Siri by having a better understanding of context and situational awareness: You don't need to tell Viv to pull up any particular app; asking it to book a hotel room automatically brings up Hotels.com. Plus, Viv isn't limited to phones, and can be installed on everything from watches to smart fridges.

However, most people haven't been able to get their hands on Viv. It was shown off at a TechCrunch Disrupt event in May, but still hasn't been released to the general public.